Forever Free
by aleena west
Summary: After the stand-off at Jam-Pony, Max and Logan are together, coping with the virus and adapting to the "freak Nation" in which they belong.


___Things between me and him were different; it was never the right time. Either someone would interrupt us or the world was coming to hell around us every time we even touched. What was it with fate, anyways? Did someone upstairs just not like us? And there he was, my man in shining army, or at least, just my man. I seemed to be the only one in shining armor nowadays. I know, I always saved our butts, and I'm grateful I do, but does it have to come with such a price? I know half the time we get ourselves into trouble, us trying to save the world and all. But I just, for once, want to have a night alone with him. We don't have to do anything. Just sit there and talk in peace and not have the world and all of humanity on our shoulders.  
___God, would that be great.  
___I sit here on an old, torn-up chair that once belonged to one of the most richest men on earth, waiting for Logan to get back. We were hiding out in an old house that was some big mighty mansion before the pulse hit. When the pulse hit it deleted all of the rich guy's money in his banks leaving him with as much money as a Seattle street beggar. Poor guy. His life probably wasted away, all his supposed friends who were really just there for his money had probably deserted the guy, leaving him to fend for himself in this shitty world.  
___I looked around the room, seeing old lamp stands with faded maroon velvet lamp-shades that could probably sell for a good five-hundred bucks on the market. Might have to clean them up a little bit, but hey, cash is cash. By the lamps were a whole bunch of old art frames, fancy but moth eaten chairs, a few random metal pipes, and some statues all of which were coated in a thick layer of dust. There was even some artwork left behind.  
___I might want to look at those later in case I see something that Joshua might like.  
___Oh, that poor boy has been left alone so much lately, especially now that I can't go see him as often as I used to due to White. He's been on my tail for weeks, even after I got rid of him when he and his cult buddies decided to take over the FBI situation when me and my gang had to pretty much taken Jam-Pony hostage.  
___But really, White left us no choice.  
___But that was weeks ago. We hid out in headquarters for a while, but then we had to start doing missions outside of headquarters which gave everyone in Seattle who wanted to be a hero a chance to kill us. Not that they would succeed, that is. Logan and I could handle ourselves fine, it was just when people had to tag along that made things bad. Although I'm still not used to having Logan by my side. It's kind of weird. Usually I'm the one saving his butt. Now we're equal. Especially with his tuned up legs that gives him some robotic super-strength. It's like the Terminator all over again, minus the stupid accent and the leather jacket.  
___Although I wouldn't mind seeing Logan on a motorcycle.  
___I miss being with Logan. I was never one to be a softy, but when I broke out of Manticore for the second time and escaped, with the help of Joshua and Alec, I couldn't stop thinking of getting back with Logan. All that time without him, him thinking I was dead, was just one thing that kept me holding on. And then when I finally got to him, saw the look in his eyes when he saw me for the first time, I didn't want anything else but to hold him and be with him. And then we kissed in such a joyful embrace that almost had a deadly ending . . . God! I hate this stupid virus!  
___The damn virus that was implanted in me so that even if I just slightly touch Logan he goes critical . . . It just kills me! Manticore and that blond bitch had to ruin the one good thing in my life. And then I find out that stupid Alec was a flake, at least at the time, and then I go back to Manticore, break in and get the vaccine for Logan so he doesn't meet the Holy Father himself and then burn the place down freeing everyone and everything inside it. Then I take the vaccine to Logan and get him healthy.  
___You know, since then we had one chance to be together. Yeah, we kissed and it felt so good, but knowing that in just a short amount of time that it would all be over and there would never be a cure again, it almost destroyed us. Me and Logan are still, I guess, together, but it's not the same. Yeah, we hold hands, but he has to wear latex gloves and before he can even take them off he has to douse them in bleach! Sometimes I just want to be able to be around him and be with him without killing him. For almost two years we danced around each other, lying about how we feel, not knowing that when the time would come when we actually wanted to be together we couldn't without loosing one or the other. I just want one day . . .

___"Hey, Max," Logan said, coming around the corner. I looked up, wondering what he had found. "I talked to Joshua, or at least tried to, and he said Ryan's sending a van for us to head back to headquarters. They should be here in about ten minutes." He came up to the chair leaning down to be at my level. I wasn't wearing my leather jacket, only a gray t-shirt, so my tattoos were visible. He looked me in the eyes, a slight flame rising in his eyes.  
___"What?" I asked. He smiled, looking down at my arms where my tats were. He carefully touched a latex-covered finger to one of my tattoos.  
___"There's more." he remarked. I guess I hadn't noticed before, but I guess he was right. Two new small symbols covered my forearm. It was a weird squiggle, similar to the many other ones that covered my back and arms.  
___"Yeah, probably. With how much I've not been paying attention, who knows how many more have popped up." I said tiredly.  
___"Wonder what they mean." Logan said, studying my arm.  
___"Eh, don't know, don't care. Probably some new prophecy that'll get my ass kicked later." I settled in my seat, taking my arm back from Logan's grasp. Logan took my leather-gloved hand instead, leaning up against one of the boxes that were on the floor. I wanted to take my hand away out of instinct, afraid that I would touch him, but I restrained myself. Instead I rubbed my thumb against the back of his hand in a circular motion, just so he knows I'm thinking about him. Really I had been thinking about him all day, like I usually do.  
___We sat there in silence for a good thirty seconds or so when we heard a raspy honk from outside. Doesn't Ryan know anything?  
___I got up, letting go of Logan's hand as he started to get up off the floor. We walked out the door of the abandoned house, heading toward the old rusted beet-up van that our little friend Ryan was driving. Logan got in the front seat while I hit the back, thank God the windows were covered with plastic, especially considering our dear friend Ryan's appearance.  
___I was guessing that Manticore made him to do some type electrical testing. He looked like he was made of rubber. He had the regular features of a human, but he looked kind of . . . smooshy.  
___"Dude, I am so glad I got here safely. They got sector cops everywhere!" Ryan said, driving off. I watched for any signs of trouble. It was only about ten minutes to get from here and back to headquarters, but a lot can happen in ten minutes.

___"Any idea why?" Logan asked. Knowing him he was probably thinking the same thing I was.  
___"I heard somethin' about some gang gettin' riled up over somethin' - probably us." Yeah, there were a lot of people out to get us and everyone else with a bar-code tattoo on their neck. Thank God we found someone with a laser at headquarters to start burning off bar-codes. I mean, they would need weekly treatments, but still.  
___Surprisingly, a few people are actually coming to our defense. Even some shockers like Normal - my old boss - who had hunted down and pretty much hated any transgenics. But when me and my crew took over Jampony for that life changing experience where we kicked White's ass, a few people had some life altering decisions. They actually saw the real us. We weren't monsters.  
___But then again, people get scared of things that are different.  
___We managed to dodge the check-point, heading straight into headquarters. Our flag that Joshua had made waved proudly in Seattle wind. We did have about five sector cop cars posted at the main entrance to headquarters, but since there hasn't been as much activity outside the gates such as burning two pieces of wood shaped into an "X" and throwing beer bottles from our fellow Seattletons, the head deputy had dwindled the security to a minimum.  
___Guess we weren't as much as a threat as they thought.


End file.
